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The London Sinfonietta present in this their 2008 UK Chamber Tour, an evening of ebb and flow, give and take…
Appearing here as a versatile 4-piece ensemble of viola, flute, harp and piano, the players chose a program loosely linked by the theme of Wind.
Tikemitsu’s haunting piece was aptly chosen as a starting point. The group stood in a tight-knit circle, their sounds coaxed or forced out as if by a gust of wind as they passed around virtuosic melody, wild harmonics and cherishing, warm trills. Unsettling String tremolos and piercing flute fluttertongue overlapped as the playeres slipped in and out of unison; one moment the percussive rain, the next legato ripples on water.
Then the hypnotic rhythmic ostinati of Emily Hall’s Join. Here flute and harp drift in and out of sync. Hall’s own intention was that the two instruments sound ‘welded’ together. The players managed to mix their timbres to mesmerising effect, being at times piercingly pure; sometimes affectingly brittle.
Britten’s Lachrymae spoke to me the least. I found myself having to search for snatches of these ‘Reflections of a song of Dowland’ (Britten’s subtitle) causing me to be shut out from the music itself. So that, while I noticed the viola's showcase of lute-like pizzicato and double-stopping, I enjoyed the last movement – effectively Britten’s setting of a Dowland song – the most.
Birtwistle's Crowds I found much more accessible. Described by the composer as ‘an exploration of resonace’, the violent pizzicato of the solo harp sent harsh, distorted echoes through the body of the instrument, then spiralling out into the resonant Lyons.
Next was Messaien’s virtuosic ‘test’ for flute: Le Merle Noir (The Blackbird), says Karen Jones, (the flautist) is an exposé of challenging ‘ranges of register’ and long, shaped phrases. Flute and piano fall into canon, then fly apart in restless pursuit of something – perhaps each other?
A hearty chuckle from the audience greeted Jones at the close. She passed this ‘French conservatoire test flute piece’ with flying colours, supporting repeated notes with composure and reaching at times an utterly affecting brittleness of timbre.
The Debussy was to be a crowd-puller, and indeed, for many present his Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp was destined to be the highlight. Violist Paul Silverstone gave a foreword praising the piece as a ‘turning point’ for twentieth-century music because of Debussy’s very specific instructions and his designs for there to be ‘no dominant player’.
The London Sinfonietta will next appear, in this country, at the London South Bank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall on Tuesday 2 December, 7.30pm, where they will perform three brand new multimedia pieces by Christian Mason, Larry Goves and Claudia Molitor, amongst others. For more information visit London Sinfonietta online.
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